


I Think We Have A Bit of Chemistry

by prettybxyziam



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Liam sort of hates Zayn, M/M, One Shot, Zayn may or may not have a secret crush on Liam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 12:36:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2229231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettybxyziam/pseuds/prettybxyziam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Why do you hate me so much?" Zayn asks, his eyebrows downcast with anger.</p><p>"Can I not just hate you for my own reasons?" Liam retaliates.</p><p>"Can I not know those reasons?"</p><p>"I hate you, Zayn. That's that."</p><p>Zayn smirks. And it makes Liam's blood boil.</p><p>"I hate you so fucking much. I really do."</p><p> </p><p>Or the one where Liam hates Zayn for no reason, but maybe he just hates how beautiful he is and how it makes his insides flutter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Think We Have A Bit of Chemistry

**Author's Note:**

> okay, so this is just a simple one shot that i wrote, not planning on posting it anywhere, but then i was like 'what the hey, let's post this shit.' so here i am.
> 
> sorry if it sorta sucks and i kinda ended it awkwardly but whatever here ya go. [nervous laughter]
> 
> happy reading! :) xx

"A lab?"

"In threes? Shit."

The teacher looks pointedly at Louis and Louis shoots back a sarcastic smile and a little finger wave. Liam rolls his eyes at his friend, but then his eyes settle on everyone getting into threes.

Everyone except for them.

"Who can we choose for a third person?" Liam asks, a bit nervously. And then the door opens and he looks at the clock. Class started twenty minutes ago, and no one comes to class twenty minutes late--except for him.

The teacher walks up to Louis and asks, "Who will be your third person in your assignment, Tomlinson?" But Liam isn't listening to Louis' response because his vision is filled with leather and black skinny jeans and tattoos and perfectly styled, raven hair. And Liam hates all of it.

Except he kind of sort of likes it too, but not really.

"Tomlinson, you need a third person."

"Yessir, it's, uh... Malik!" Louis calls. Liam's eyes go wide and he turns to his best friend.

"No, Louis. Don't do this," he whispers. Louis throws a smirk Liam's way and he scowls.

Their teacher sighs and hands them their assignment and walks away, his spot replaced by Zayn Malik. Liam swallows and takes him in. His light shadow sprawled across his chizzled jawline and spreads into his sleek and shiny hair through sideburns, his hard, golden gaze on Louis.

"What is it, Tomlinson?"

"You're our third musketeer in this science thingy, whatever we're doing--to be honest, I wasn't really paying attention." Louis smiles, his blue eyes shining. Zayn sighs, and settles his gaze on Liam (who's been watching him the whole time but would never admit that). He keeps Liam's brown eyes locked with his own, his face void of any emotion until he breaks it to grab a chair and Liam's a little too stunned to say anything.

He drops his backpack on the ground and plops down on the chair. Liam clears his throat and starts awkwardly, "So let's look through the outline?" Louis shrugs and Zayn doesn't respond so he reads it out loud and Louis lamely suggests ideas on how they're going to do their work. Liam smiles and says they'll consider it and looks to Zayn because he hasn't said a word this whole time.

Zayn holds a black pen, his eyes on a paper on the desk, his wrist curled and the pen pressed to the paper as he doodles. Liam looks at what he's drawing but the only thing that catches his eye is that the paper he's drawing on is Liam's note he copied on elements and compounds. Liam takes a deep breath. Yep, Liam kind of really does hate Zayn.

"Uh, Zayn?" He hums in response and it makes Liam's blood boil. "That's, uh, that's my paper." Zayn's impossibly long eyelashes flutter up and his eyes meet Liam's and then down at the paper and then up at Liam's again.

"Oh, sorry about that, man." Zayn sits up a bit and plays with the pen in his hands. Liam glares at Louis and mouths "Really?" Louis shrugs.

At the end of class when the bell finally rings, Liam grabs his things and heads to the door with Louis. "Really, Louis? Zayn Malik?"

"Don't even try to act pissed, I saw you practically eye raping him," Louis states flippantly. Liam's eyes go wide and a blush crawls over his cheeks, tinting them a deep pink.

"Louis! That is not true!" Liam sighs. "He annoys me so much." Louis barks out a laugh.

"Liam, babe, lying does not look good on you." Liam glares at his feathery-haired friend.

"I'm not lying. Did you see? He drew all over my notes!" Liam fixes his back strap on his shoulder. "I'll hate you forever for this."

"Okay, Li, I'm sure you will."

•••

Their next science class, they're given the period to work on the lab. Liam really wants to get it over with, Zayn's sitting there not saying a word, and Louis is lying across the desk, something between a moan and a sigh escaping him.

"Can't we just, like, stay after school at the library and work on it? Or-- oh! You guys can come to my place and work on it there!" Louis' sitting up now and looking expectantly at Liam and Zayn. Liam would agree because Louis' family is really nice. His mom is probably one of the sweetest people on Earth, and his little sisters are cute and full of energy. But Zayn goddamn Malik is also going to be there, and he'd rather not.

"I don't--"

"Sure," Zayn says with a shrug, and it's the first thing he's said all period. And apparently Liam's opinion doesn't matter anymore.

"Great! Meet me by Mrs. K's class after last period, and we'll walk there." Louis' smiling and Liam's internally groaning because Louis' an evil little shit.

As much as Liam says he doesn't want to go, he really needs to finish this assignment and he doesn't want to be rude and ditch them.

So he meets Louis and Zayn after last period and they make their way to Louis'.

Louis leads the way and Zayn and Liam walk side by side behind him. Liam's irritated by how close they're next to each other, but Zayn doesn't seem to realize because he's walking with an impassive expression. At one point, their hands brush and Liam nearly jumps five feet away and lashes out on Zayn but he doesn't. He swallows anything he's feeling and pretends it never happened (although the blush on his cheeks says otherwise).

They finally get there and the twins tackle Liam's legs in a cute hug and he rubs their heads with a smile on his face. Zayn stands awkwardly behind Liam, looking around the house like he doesn't know what to do. Jay pokes her head out from the kitchen, smiling at them.

"Lou, you didn't tell me you'd bring friends over!"

"Sorry, mum, we'll be upstairs working on a project," he says.

"Okay. Liam, honey, how are you?"

Liam smiles. "I'm good, Jay, thank you," he says politely.

"And what's your name, hun?" Liam side steps so Zayn's more in view, but Zayn subtly shuffles closer to Liam (not subtle enough for Liam who notices though).

"I'm, uh, Zayn. Zayn Malik." He rubs his arm and fixes the backpack strap on his shoulder.

"Nice to meet you, Zayn. And by the way, call me Jay," she adds with a smile and she's gone. Liam realizes that Louis' already disappeared to his room.

"Where'd Tomlinson go?" Zayn asks.

"Upstairs," Liam answers already walking to the stairway. Liam hears Zayn's footsteps behind him and he smirks because he knows Zayn feels lost, and Liam feels perfectly at home.

He opens the door to Louis' bedroom and he's lying down on his bed. "About time you guys got up here." He smirks at them. Liam rolls his eyes and heads into the room, plopping down on the floor.

"Your mum was talking to us," Liam says.

"Oh, then sorry about that."

"Your mum's really nice," Zayn says. Louis looks to Zayn and smiles.

"Must run in the family, innit?" Louis flips his metaphorical hair and Liam snorts.

"Because we all know how much of a saint you are." Louis throws a pillow from his bed at Liam, who catches it and laughs.

"I find that offensive, actually."

"Whatever, can we start on this thing now and get it over with?" Louis sighs but nods, and Zayn doesn't reply, but Liam was sort of expecting that anyways.

So they work and Louis actually helps them, and Liam learns (through the minimal times Zayn's spoken) that Zayn's actually really smart, and Liam doesn't know if he likes it or hates it.

Liam realizes the time, and shit, he needs to get home and he's walking there. "I gotta go." Liam packs up his things as quickly as he can.

"Wait, I'll go with you," Zayn says and Liam goes to a standstill for a few moments and stares at Zayn as a thousand different thoughts and emotions go through him. He shakes his head and sighs a "sure" and picks up his bag.

Liam catches Louis' eye, which is glinting and a smirk is accenting it. Liam scowls and he hears Louis laughing. "See you guys tomorrow!" he calls.

Liam and Zayn head downstairs and Jay waves at them and calls a "Good bye, you two! And say hi to your parents for me, Liam, would you?"

As they start walking, Liam starts to feel nervous. His heart's racing in his chest, and his palms are kind of sweaty and Liam's just confused. And then their hands brush again and Liam feels like he's going to burst--and he's not sure if it's from anger and irritation this time.

"So where do you live?" Zayn asks calmly, and Liam's sort of annoyed by how collected he sounds. Liam takes in a silent breath to calm himself before answering.

"Uh, about ten minutes down this way," Liam says pointing in the direction they're walking in. Zayn nods. And then he chuckles. Zayn Malik actually just _chuckled_.

"I actually live 10 minutes from Louis' in the opposite direction," he says. Liam turns to Zayn with an incredulous look to Zayn's small smile.

"Then why are you walking this way?"

Zayn turns to Liam, something between a smirk and a smile playing on his lips. "Would it be weird if I said I wanted to walk with you?" Liam stops and almost chokes on air. His heart stutters in his chest and his face feels like it's on fire.

"I-- I can walk home by myself, if you must know," he says, almost childishly and starts walking a little faster.

"Not exactly the answer I was expecting," Zayn says, easily keeping up with Liam and it's really pissing him off. "Why do you hate me so much?"

Liam doesn't reply because in all honesty he doesn't really know himself. The first time he saw him, his perfect jaw, the beautifully long eyelashes that frame his flawless golden eyes, and his shiny, soft-looking hair that Liam wants to run his hands through to test how soft his hair is, he instantly sort of hated him. Or maybe he hates the way Zayn makes him feel.

No, it's just Zayn he hates. Definitely just Zayn.

"Dude, come on. I just wanna be your friend," Zayn reasons, jogging up to him. Liam didn't even realize how fast he'd been walking.

"Why?" Liam demands.

"Because-- Because--"

"You can't even think of a good reason?"

"What, I need a _reason_  to be your friend?" Zayn asks, still keeping his cool, unlike Liam who's feeling a hundred emotions all at once and he actually feels like he's going to blow up because of how overwhelming it is. Liam clenches and unclenches his fists.

"I just wanted to know why you want to be my friend," Liam states like it's obvious. Zayn rolls his eyes and throws his hands up.

"I just wanted to be nice and walk you home, try to be your friend, and you get mad at me?" They're standing in the middle of the sidewalk, the sun's setting, and it's getting chilly. But Liam doesn't feel it-- he feels extremely hot and his face still feels like it's on fire.

"I could walk home by myself," he states simply. Liam knows that he's blowing up on Zayn with no real purpose but he just _pisses him off so much_. Even if he doesn't have a reason for that either.

Zayn sighs. "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Zayn turns around and starts walking back. Liam watches his retreating figure and bites his lip. He draws in a breath and lets it out, shakes his head, and continues walking home.

He opens the front door and kicks off his shoes. "Liam, dinner'll ready soon, alright?"

"Okay, mum," he calls back. He heads to his room and drops his bag and throws himself onto his bed. He runs his hands over his face.

"What the hell just happened?" He grabs his bag and takes out his chemistry books. He flips through his notebook and stops at the elements and compounds note he took. The black doodles around the page contrast the blue writing covering most of the page. The doodles are small and of random things; the Batman insignia, Zayn's name in graffiti letters, and other small nothings dotting the edges of the page, careful not to touch the writing. Then Liam feels a pang in his chest and he frowns at the page.

"Liam, honey, dinner!"

No, he refuses to feel bad for what he did to Zayn.

But that doesn't stop it from not completely going away.

•••

"Li, could you host after school today? The twins are having friends over and it's going to be hectic and little girls running and screaming and laughing everywhere." Liam's eyes go wide. They were still doing this after school thing? He thought it was going to be a one time thing. Apparently not.

And because he's Liam, he says, "Uh, sure?" because he'd feel bad if he said no to Louis. Louis grins. Liam sneaks a look at Zayn and he's doodling away, this time on the cover of _his own_ notebook. That pang of guilt in his stomach has him frowning at himself for getting mad Zayn for a pretty petty reason, he realizes now.

He knows he should apologize--and if it was anyone else he would--but this is Zayn Malik and he's definitely not going to, at least, not first. But Zayn has nothing to apologize for, so this will be a never ending cycle of silent treatment and unforgiveness, won't it?

Liam sighs and Louis raises his eyebrow at him but Liam ignores it.

 

 

Liam walks into his house and kicks off his shoes, Louis and Zayn following behind him. "My parents aren't home, and my sisters are out with friends," he explains for the lack of noise in the house. Louis dashes up the stairs and Liam only rolls his eyes. Louis really just does whatever he wants and there's really no way to stop it.

"Uh, your house, it's nice," Zayn says quietly from behind Liam. Liam turns around and stares at Zayn awkwardly. "It's welcoming, and it smells like someone's cooking."

"Um, thanks," Liam says awkwardly.

Zayn freezes. "Oh my God, that was weird. I'm sorry." And Zayn's heading up the stairs in the blink of an eye, leaving Liam dumbfounded in the front door. His heart is hammering in his chest and he feels sort of breathless and why the hell does he feel like this whenever Zayn's around?

It's always Zayn.

Liam inhales and exhales and heads to his room.

"What the hell were you guys doing down there? Zayn came up here looking like a big, blushing mess," Louis says as soon as Liam steps into the room. Liam looks to Zayn where he's glaring at Louis, his eyes hard.

"Shut it, Tomlinson."

Louis shrugs, smirking. "Just asking."

"Anyways," Liam says, dying to change the subject. "Project? That thing we came here to do?"

"Really? I thought we were going to have a threesome. I'm out," Louis states like it's absolutely _nothing_. Liam actually chokes on nothing and Zayn gasps and looks ready to slap Louis in the face. Hard. Louis apparently thinks it's hilarious though because he starts dying of laughter on Liam's bed. "You guys really can't take a joke, can you?" he says between laughs. Liam's face burns and he rummages through his bag to fight off the awkward that Louis doesn't seem to pay any attention to.

"Tomlinson," Zayn warns and Louis shakes his head catching his breath.

"Jeez, I was joking, _Malik_." Zayn glares at Louis for a few more seconds and puts his attention back to his notebook where he's probably doodling again.

Liam watches him. The way there's a pink blush spread along his defined cheek bones that contrast his creamy skin tone. His jaw is clenched and his eyes are narrowed in concentration, and his tight, red long sleeve is rolled up to the elbow, veins and muscles prominent. His eyelashes flutter with every movement of his eyes as their gaze drag across his drawing and every time he blinks they brush his cheeks and Liam kind of wants to scoot over and see them up close and reach out--

"Oi, Leeymo!" Louis calls. Liam jumps and looks up to Louis, praying his blush isn't noticeable, but it probably is. "Done admiring Malik's pretty face?" Liam audibly gasps. Louis really could have saved him loads of embarrassment by just _not_ saying that last sentence, but he had to do it anyways, right? Because he's just Louis.

Liam feels Zayn's gaze burning holes in the side of his face but he refuses to look anywhere but the notebook in his lap open to the page where they have all their work done. Liam sort of wants to just shrink into nothing or suddenly transport somewhere--anywhere that's not the place that is Liam's bedroom.

"Don't worry, I don't blame you, Li, no need to be embarrassed," Louis starts. "Malik is really hot actually, congrats on your face, man." Liam wants facepalm, but he wants to slap Louis' more. He does neither.

A moment of silence goes by, and then, like, three more. The awkward in the air is practically suffocating Liam and squeezing its way through all the cracks and crevices in Liam's body, making him want to squirm. "Well, um, this is awkward. Li, I'm gonna-- go get snacks? Drinks? Something." And Louis' heading out the door, leaving Liam and Zayn in the room, a good metre between them as they sit cross-legged on the carpet flooring of Liam's room.

"Sorry for Louis, he's sort of a prick," Liam says in a small voice, after a few more moments of unbearable silence. The sound of fabric on fabric suggests that Zayn shrugged, but Liam's determined to not look at him. "And..." Liam sighs. He can do this. He can so do this. "And I'm sorry for the, uh, the thing.. you know, yesterday."

"Where you were the one being the prick?" Liam flinches at the tone in his voice. He's angry, but he's acting calm about it. "Forget about it. Whatever."

It goes quiet again in the room and Liam feels antsy. He feels like he should say something, but he doesn't know what. "I really am, you know, sorry." There's no response and Liam curls in on himself, he feels stupid for saying it now. He sighs.

"I come bearing food!" Louis announces, a lot louder than neccessary, with a bag of crisps Liam realizes are the ones his mom had bought yesterday when she went grocery shopping, and three cans of coke that were in his fridge. He hands out the cans and plops down on Liam's bed again, pulling open the bag.

And they finally finish the assignment, in perfect timing since the next day is the due date. Louis sighs in relief when they finish it, the dejected bag of crisps sitting crumpled at the bottom of the bed. He checks the time on his phone and widens his eyes, muttering "shit" under his breath. "My mom's called me eight times. I was supposed to be home half an hour ago. Bye guys; see you tomorrow." Louis picks up his bag and runs without giving them time to reply.

"I'll help you clean up," Zayn says after they hear the front door close.

"It's fine, I can do it." Liam gets up and grabs the bag.

"I'll help."

"It's. Alright." Liam looks back at Zayn and he's raising an eyebrow. Liam turns back and takes Louis' pop can. He reaches down for his own on the floor, and picks it up the same time Zayn does, Zayn's hand wrapping around Liam's. His breath hitches and his heart starts up again, going into overdrive. This is like a typical cliché thing that happens in fucking love stories or romance movies. Why the hell is it happening to Liam?

"Let go, Zayn," he says angrily. Zayn shrugs.

"I just wanted to help," he replies easily.

"I said, let _go_." There's a moment where no one moves, and then Zayn lets go with a defensive gesture and then his arms cross over his chest. He takes Zayn's can and heads downstairs to the kitchen and throws everything out there. He turns around and runs right into Zayn's chest. Liam gasps and takes a step back.

"What are you _doing_? I didn't even hear you follow me down the stairs," Liam says, this time with his arms crossed. Zayn shrugs and Liam groans, pushing past him and towards the front door where the staircase is. Zayn grabs his arm and shoves him against the front door. Zayn looks at Liam with angry, gold eyes and this close Liam realizes there's a small brown freckle in one of them. Liam's taller than Zayn but he can feel his breaths on his face and Liam's having trouble breathing and his heart is racing and he thinks he's probably dying.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Zayn asks, his eyebrows downcast with anger.

"Can I not just hate you for my own reasons?" Liam retaliates.

"Can I not know those reasons?"

"I hate you, Zayn. That's that."

Zayn smirks. And it makes Liam's blood boil.

"I hate you so fucking much." Liam moves his face forward so it's an inch away from Zayn's. "I really do."

And then Zayn moves forward and kisses him hard, almost viciously. And then Liam's kissing back, reaching up to Zayn's hair and yeah, it really is as soft as it looks. Zayn grabs Liam's bottom lip between his teeth and Liam keeps back a moan because oh my God, that made Liam dizzy for a few seconds. Liam runs his hands through Zayn's hair and then places them at the nape of his neck, pulling on the little hairs there. And that's when Zayn moans and Liam's gasping for breath because it sounded perfect as soon as it tumbled from his lips.

Liam starts pushing them up the stairs. They break apart to catch a breath. Between each heaving pant, Liam says, "I hate you, Zayn Malik." And then they're bursting into Liam's room and he's pushing Zayn towards his bed. They hit the foot board and Liam pushes Zayn down onto the mattress. Zayn crawls back to the top of the bed and grabs Liam's face with his hands, kissing him again. He pushes his tongue against the seam of his lips and Liam opens, letting Zayn explore his mouth and Liam can't hold back his moan.

Zayn reaches for the bottom of Liam's shirt so Liam breaks apart to get his shirt off while Zayn does the same. Liam pushes Zayn down against the bed and straddles him, kissing him fiercly.

And Liam realizes this is exactly what he wants. He wants Zayn. All of him. Liam breaks his lips from Zayn's and attaches them to his jaw, the stubble slightly burning his lips and the other skin contact setting his skin on fire. He kisses down his neck, nipping and maybe leaving a mark. Liam stops and stares at Zayn's torso. There are markings on his chest and a blocky heart on his hip and defined abs and Liam hates how fucking attractive his body is too.

Liam's so overwhelmed by how fast this is going and how much he fucking _loves_ it. There's this voice at the back of his mind chanting _more_ until it's so loud it's consuming all of him and he's kissing Zayn again until they're panting and moaning into each other's mouths.

It's Zayn's hands, laced with rings, that go for the button on Liam's jeans when they hear the front door open downstairs. "Fuck," Zayn sighs, throwing his head back onto Liam's pillows. Liam groans in frustration dipping his head into Zayn's neck.

"Liam, honey, do you have a friend over?" his mum calls from the bottom of the stairs. "There are a pair of shows here, in the front--"

"Uh, y-yeah, mum," he calls back, his voice a little hoarse and wrecked and he hates it and he's praying it's not obvious to his mum.

"I, uh-- I should go," Zayn says, looking up at Liam. He swallows and nods, then climbs off of Zayn. Zayn goes to grab his red long sleeve that was discarded onto the floor. Liam realized that Zayn's just as hard as he is and that only makes him want to groan because things just got so fucked up so quickly.

Liam goes to grab his own shirt and follows Zayn down the stairs to the front door. Liam closes the door behind him and rests against it wringing his hands together while Zayn steps onto the porch and turns to him.

"Maybe we should be lab partners more often," Zayn says with a smirk, giving Liam a sneak of perfect white teeth and Liam can't help but chuckle a bit. "Or maybe I could come by some time and we could finish what we started?" The teasing, joking tone in his voice is almost completely gone and there's an underlying serious note in it. Liam's mind wonders what could have happened if they continued and Liam's nodding his head before he realizes.

Zayn laughs and Liam thinks it sounds beautiful. "See you later, Liam." Liam smiles at him and Zayn turns around to make his way down the three steps to his front lawn when he turns around and kisses Liam. Liam finds himself leaning into it and then Zayn's pulling away just enough to pull their lips apart.

But it's not enough for Liam. He just wants so much _more_. He wants to grab the sides of Zayn's face and pull their lips together while he brushes his thumb across his incredible cheek bones and the stubble that stretches across his jawline--

Zayn's chuckle pulls him away from his fantasy, his eyes opening to see Zayn's head thrown back and his eyes instantly go to the neck veins bulging from the skin, Zayn's arms wrap around the back of Liam's neck to keep him from falling (or maybe he just wanted to do that) and Liam's arms instantly go around his waist.

Liam feels a little light headed and he just wants Zayn so badly all of a sudden but then he thinks that maybe he's just accepted this want--he's had it all along and now he wants to make up for lost time.

"You know," Zayn starts, "my family usually doesn't get home for another couple hours." Zayn's eyes flicker from Liam's eyes to his lips and then back again.

"Then what are we standing here for?" Liam says with a smile.

Liam opens the door and pokes his head in to grab his mum's car keys. "Hey, mum, I'm going over to a friend's house and I'm taking the car."

He closes the door before his mum gives a response and he's grabbing Zayn's hand and taking him to the car.

So they get back to Zayn's house and Liam realizes that yeah, maybe he doesn't hate Zayn as much as he tried to convince himself.

And the next day in science when Zayn comes to sit with Liam and Louis and Liam is infinitely nicer to Zayn, Louis gasps and says, "You guys totally fucked!" leaving a very red Zayn and Liam.

But Liam realizes that Louis was right, he won't hate him forever for adding Zayn into their group, because it's probably the best thing that ever happened.


End file.
